Goodwood Revival: La Dolce Vita
Goodwood Revival: La Dolce Vita
When Goodwood Revival announced the La Dolce Vita theme for its increasingly popular Revival Style stage, I was elated, not least because as I had not long taken delivery of our new Ivy Suit from our Italian atelier (see our previous post: Cottoning On), which I thought would be perfect for the occasion but because we are enjoying yet another 1960’s style revival which is a personal favourite of mine for style, music, film and of course cars!
It is said that the film La Dolce Vita was intended as irony, a satire of the supposedly glamorous Italian lifestyle - Director Fellini created an eerily prescient tale depicting how chasing endless pleasure leads to isolation and moral decay. Confession time: I've never got all the way through it. It's sprawling, episodic and rather uncomfortable viewing… I'd take The Italian Job any old day!
Similarly, the name of our tailoring company Brown in Town is intended to be ironic, the antithesis of the old adage Never Brown in Town - the rule held that brown tweeds were considered uncouth in the city and should be kept for one’s country estate, think Downton Abbey. Because, our maxim is any colour, as long as it is your colour.
Whilst it was tempting to sport the more casual style icons of the day (the Harrington jacket, the polo shirt, or the Oxford button-down and chinos), the unpredictable forecast that week, together with a unanimous vote from all parties in the family, pointed to separates as more befitting the occasion. The Ivy suit is tan, after all, and the weather was threatening both a latent heatwave and also rain!
So we went with:
One of our new Italian raglan sleeve raincoats
An OCBD shirt, obvs
A navy seersucker jacket in Drapers Merino wool, another pioneering Italian invention
Light grey plain weave trousers in Harrisons' Spring Ram
the verdict
The separates ensemble was perfect in every way. Light enough to keep one’s cool when the sun did appear and the plain weave trousers were quick drying in the event of a shower. As for our vintage inspired raglan raincoat, it provided an unexpected extra layer of warmth in the evening when the sun went down and the bands began to play over the road. Even the loafers, which were recently resoled with treaded-rubber soles elevated us just enough from the inevitable Goodwood puddles…
Goodwood Revival is an immersive experience that constantly inspires, particularly if you're partial to a pre-1966 lifestyle. And back for its fourth year as official partner, Ralph Lauren evoked a powerful sense of nostalgia, capturing the style and spirit of a bygone era. It presented the Settrington Cup, Goodwood's children's race in Austin J40 pedal cars, and took over the Race Control building to showcase its latest venture, The Polo Bar, ahead of its official London opening in 2028. Look out for future spreads in WM Brown, who were spotted catching a ride in a Woody Van!
There are styles to suit every taste, whether reminiscent of a previous era or a modern take - as we like to say at Brown in Town “tailoring inspired by the past but not dictated by it'' and Brown in Town is here to guide you in achieving your look.